In a Frivolous Mood, Watching Serendipity

Finally, we had our first sip of Jägermeister, the famed German liqueur, a short while ago.

Our verdict (on the liqueur that is) – Not bad. Not bad at all.

Kinda like the cough syrup, but much thinner and, of course, a lot more alcohol in it. 😉

We like it. By the way, it’s $13.99 for a 375-ml bottle.

With Jägermeister flowing in our veins and sipping on a tall glass of our usual Gin+Seltzer, who can blame us if we’re in a frivolous mood.

And what better thing to do in this state of mind ahem mindless state than watch a flippant romantic comedy like Serendipity (John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale).

The 2001 film is directed by Peter Chelsom.

We’ll update this post after completing the film.

Yes, they have already met at Bloomingdale’s and are now sitting at the Ice Cream shop.

Update: Junk, but Watchable

They say that once in your lifetime someone comes along who you are absolutely meant to be with.

Everything feels great.

The stars are aligned. Body and spirit are in balance.

Well, this movie is piffle.

But since we were floating high we didn’t mind it.

Notwithstanding the ridiculous romantic story drivel, there were some redeeming elements in Serendipity.

Foremost among the pluses are the fine acting by the lead pair Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sara (Kate Beckinsale).

Both of them do such a decent job that you are inclined to forgive the hopeless story of near-misses and coincidences.

We found their respective friends Dean (Jeremy Piven) and Eve (Molly Shannon) likable too.

And of course, the charming Bloomingdale’s salesman (Eugene Levy).

The story in essence is of a serendipitous, short-meeting of two people Jonathan and Sara in New York, who find they enjoy each other’s company.

But they part because the girl has some weird ideas of destiny that involves writing telephone numbers on $ bills and inside Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Love in the Time of Cholera (a book we immensely love, by the way).

Fast forward several years later: Jonathan and Sara are engaged.

But, alas, to different people.

Still, there’s an uneasy restlessness in both.

Well, no marks for guessing what happens next. 😉

Now, if you schmucks will excuse us we’d like to have some more of our Jägermeister and Chapatis with fried potatoes. Yummy combination!

8 Responses to "In a Frivolous Mood, Watching Serendipity"

  1. முனிAndy   July 11, 2010 at 1:42 am

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Jay is a “remake” of Serendipity……….. was a moderate hit.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Milenge, Milenge (Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor), the Bollywood film that released yesterday, is also supposed to be ‘inspired’ by Serendipity.

  2. rakeshbaba   July 11, 2010 at 4:21 am

    have you finished watching “the dark knight”?

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Yes, (re)watched it a couple of days back.

  3. racer44   July 11, 2010 at 11:42 am

    You should watch “500 days of summer”. I mean, like, you REALLY should. Vinnai thaandi Varuvaaya, that shit-rate film from that shit-rate director Gautham Menon, seems to be, ahem, inspired by it 😉 . Especially the climax.

    I watched 500 days today and liked it a lot. Though not the soul-crunching, heart-breaking tragic romances I tend to like, it was a nice enough film. Not the synthetic shit that Gautham Menon passed off as a “heart-felt” “love” story.

    For starters, this one had something actually called a story, an interesting screenplay which kollywood/bollywood buffoons can’t come up if they continue making rom-coms for a million years, and sincere acting.

    P.S.Please fast-track that 7G review, will you? Seriously, how long have I been reminding you about it?

    P.P.S. Also watched Goodfellas. Classic.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You Write Above: Vinnai thaandi Varuvaaya, that shit-rate film from that shit-rate director Gautham Menon, seems to be, ahem, inspired by it

    Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya, that shit-rate film?

    Ha ha ha, say that again. Say that a gazillion times.

    Yes, now you’ve made our day. 😉

    Added 500 Days to our Netflix queue.

    7G soon.

  4. racer44   July 11, 2010 at 1:32 pm

    In fact, I’m fairly surprised you haven’t yet watched 500 days of Summer. It released only last year and many reviewers have heaped praises on it. How long will it take you? Because it pains me to see all this smug self-congratulatory talk around vtv’s 125th day in the cinema halls(not MADE to run like Chandramukhi did in Prabhu’s theatre here, but actually popular).

    P. S. When i say inspired, I don’t mean extensively copied , since there are some significant differences between them. And reflecting back, the climax WAS better conceived and fit more snugly in vtv. But hey, anybody can improve a good scene and build a story around that better scene. In fact, gautham has messed up the story part quite badly. 🙁

    Btw, do watch madharasapattinam. I may watch it a couple of days and would like to see what you make of it before that. Generally good word-of-mouth coming in.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. You write: 500 days of Summer….How long will it take you?

    If we are desperate, we can watch 500 days of Summer today. We just checked….It’s available at a nearby Blockbuster store (about 20 miles) but we don’t feel like paying $5 when we can get it from Netflix on Wed/Thur as part of our subscription.

    2. Regarding Madraspatinam, we didn’t line up any advertising sponsors and don’t feel up to a 400-KM drive in this heat. Not unless someone sponsors it.

    3. Currently watching the Football World Cup finals tamasha on ABC.

    • trishna147   July 11, 2010 at 6:46 pm

      How did they manage to make Chandramukhi run for 800 days?

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      Only in Incredible India, if true.

  5. STG   July 11, 2010 at 1:38 pm

    Offtopic

    Just back from Ananthapurathu Veedu.

    Yes. It has more of family drama than horror…actually there is no horror as marketed primarily. Its like watching a extended-serial for 2.5 hours.

    We have “good” super-natural powers here – a welcome aberration.

    But the movie was decent and engrossing till the end. It has some interesting moments – special mention to that dumb child for its cute reactions.

    However its a let down for the audience who enter the theatre expecting to scream and ghostly experience.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    ‘Indian Tamil supernatural horror film,’ 😉 the Wiki description of Ananthapurathu Veedu.

  6. guruprasad.s   July 11, 2010 at 6:35 pm

    This is entirely off-topic.

    The month long football world cup 2010 has come to an end, and Spain have
    just (an hour or so back) edged out Holland. Spain have played a level of football
    that others can only dream of, and even Spain were not at their best. Spain are now
    the torch bearers of “the beautiful football” school.

    Now that the tournament is over, there is a sense of emptiness and it is back to work ;-(

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You Write Above: Now that the tournament is over, there is a sense of emptiness

    Thank God, there’s Abhishek Bachchan to keep us amused during those in-between moments. 😉

    The Marlon Gando of our generation has just announced he’s doing Dostana 2 and Dhoom 3.

    Here’s a ‘gem’ from the ‘thespian’ of our times:

    I’m not the calculating actor. I don’t choose the genres. Rather the genres choose me….I am impatient. I like to do a lot of work. I’m happy with the zest with which I work. If tomorrow I want to do only one film a year, I’ll do that. Right now I’m enjoying being a prolific actor.

    Source: IndiaFM

    Rather the genres choose me?

    Did it really say that? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. 😉

    Somebody, please arrange a brain transplant for this duffer. Don’t worry if a human brain is not available.

    When you have nothing, any brain is an improvement.

  7. முனிAndy   July 12, 2010 at 11:31 am

    Did you take the Jägermeister as shots or how? You sound like you were sipping on it.. personally I thought it was too sweet and overrated. I had 5 shots in 15 minutes.. didn’t do much damage.

    Saw Ash in “Usurye Poguthey”.. her makeup looks weird, her face is puffy & jaded.. Paatti.. it’s going to be rather painful to watch thaaththaa and paatti dance in Endhiran.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. You Write Above: Did you take the Jägermeister as shots or how?

    We poured some Jägermeister into a small glass. Kept it in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes until the outside developed a thin white misty layer.

    Took it out and kept sipping on it.

    When glass gets empty, repeat above steps.

    We are partial the taste. Different from our usual Gin, Vodka, Bloody Mary et al.

    Sometime later today, we’ll try the Jäger-bomb. Forgot to pick up Red Bull yesterday.

    2. You write: Saw Ash in “Usurye Poguthey”.. her makeup looks weird, her face is puffy & jaded.. Paatti..

    We think Ash has reached the end of the road.

    Even in Incredible India, the reign of mediocrity must end.

    Endhiran will, of course, get off to a rocking start because of the crazies in Tamil Nadu. Whether it can sustain itself remains to be seen.

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